chapter 6 The Reception of Alexander in Hellenistic Art

Olga Palagia

Introduction

Alexander appears to have invented his own image as a youthful ruler who preserved his young looks by shaving his chin contrary to usual practice, and by growing his hair longer than average, swept up from the forehead to form an anastole. In addition, he was said to have a melting gaze and crooked neck.1 Alexander’s own favourite artists, the sculptor Lysippus, the painter Apelles and the gem-cutter Pyrgoteles, disseminated his official image during his lifetime. Other artists, like Leochares and of the Attic School, also attempted his portrait, not least during the lifetime of his father, Philip ii, when Alexander was crown prince.2 None of these works has come down to us. The only inscribed portrait of Alexander is the Azara herm of the Roman period, which is heavily restored.3 It is thought to reflect an original by Lysippus though this is sometimes disputed. It does, nevertheless, provide a blueprint for Alexander’s appearance enabling us to recognize his image. The begins with Alexander’s death in Babylon in 323 and ends with Cleopatra vii’s death in in 30bc. Shortly after his death in 323, Alexander’s empire disintegrated and was divided into the kingdoms of the Successors.4 Each one of them claimed him in some manner and depended

1 On the physical characteristics of Alexander, see Plut. Mor. 180b and 335a–b; Alex. 4.1–7; Athen. 13.565a; Ael. vh 12.14. T. Hölscher, Ideal und Wirklichkeit in den Bildnissen Alexanders desGrossen (Heidelberg: CarlWinter, 1971), 24–42; A. Stewart, “Alexander in Greek and Roman art”, in Brill’s Companion to , ed. J. Roisman (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2003), 33–34; T. Hölscher, Herrschaft und Lebensalter Alexander der Grosse (Basel: Schwabe, 2009), 26–32. 2 A. Stewart, Faces of Power (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oxford, 1993), 360–362 (sources); Stewart, “Alexander in Greek and Roman art”, 34–40. 3 Paris, Louvre Ma 436, from Tivoli. Stewart, Faces of Power, 423, figs. 45–46; S. Descamps- Lequime, ed., Au royaume d’Alexandre le Grand (Paris: Somogy éditions d’art, 2011), 646, cat.no. 411. 4 A.B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Canto edition, 1993), 175–176.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi: 10.1163/9789004359932_007 the reception of alexander in hellenistic art 141 on him as a source of legitimacy. Their attitude favoured the erection of por- traits of Alexander as founder hero, spurious ancestor, royal predecessor or heroic conqueror and obvious paradigm of the current ruler. The Successors moreover indulged in physical imitation of Alexander by adopting his clean- shaven look or copying his clothes.5 Not only did their images emulate his, but divine and heroic figures like those of Heracles, Helius, Achilles and various river gods of the Hellenistic period assumed his facial characteristics.6 Such similarities sometimes lead to confusion and it can be problematic to distin- guish posthumous portraits of Alexander from images of his imitators. The problem is compounded by the fact that the majority of artworks portraying Alexander are only known from Roman copies and there is no consensus on whether these copies depend on lifetime or posthumous representations of the conqueror. In addition, we have literary records of lost portraits and it is always a struggle to correlate them to extant art works. Alexander’s posthumous portraiture can be roughly divided into two peri- ods: those created within the lifetimes of his contemporaries (about 323– 280bc) and those created after all living memory of the conqueror had ceased (280–30bc). With the passage of time, Alexander’s appearance became reju- venated, merging with the legend of the youthful hero that he himself had originally cultivated. In addition, narrative scenes of Alexander’s deeds gave way to single images or Alexander accompanied by .This chap- ter will discuss a selection of portraits and themes in order to convey the role played by Alexander’s image in the Hellenistic kingdoms that were formed after the dissolution of his empire.

323–280bc

One of the earliest posthumous portraits of Alexander was on a panel decorating his funeral cart, prepared in Babylon to Perdiccas’ orders between 323 and 322bc.7 The king was portrayed in the Persian manner, enthroned

5 R.R.R. Smith, Hellenistic Royal Portraits (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 68. Of his Compan- ions, soon after Alexander’s death, Leonnatus imitated his physical appearance (Arr. Succ. f 12), while Craterus adopted regal dress (Arr. Succ. f 19). 6 A. Trofimova, Imitatio Alexandri in Hellenistic Art (: Bretschneider, 2012), 73–80, 103–112, 133–140; O. Palagia, The Impact of Alexander the Great in the Arts of Greece (Leiden: babesch Foundation, 2015), 11, figs. 18, 20, 21. 7 Diod. 18.27.1. On Alexander’s funeral cart, see Stewart, Faces of Power, 216–220.